So who is flying these drones?

My guess is Google.

Or the Mexican drug cartels are using delivery drones in a test market.
 
I was wondering if the military lost something and this is their lowest profile way to locate it.
 
JOhnH said:
My guess is Google.

Or the Mexican drug cartels are using delivery drones in a test market.
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More efficient than catapults and trebuchets.... Less labor than tunnels.

Win-win
 
North Korea reportedly said they have a nice Christmas Present for us. Perhaps they are delivering it by drone.
 
6 foot diameter?? The M210 they linked a picture of in the article isn't 6 feet across,even the M600 is only just over 5 feet tip to tip fully folded out. Most drones at that size can't fly that long, I don't see how it would be difficult to find that many flying around, the setup and teardown for all of them would be a huge amount of work.
 
Any mineral resources in that area ?
 
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Reading the article, I kinda liked the warning, which pretty much describes the drones characteristic as a potential firebomb, in their warning to residents not to shoot them down.

Lithium remote controlled firebombs. But “they don’t seem to be malicious”... glad they are on top of it!

It seems odd that they would by doing this at night too, if they are mapping an area. Maybe using other types of probes than cameras, but still odd. Is the tech built in for swarming? Proximity sensors so they don’t crash into each other, but somehow also controlled so they don’t keep redirecting each other.
 
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sourdough44 said:
I vote to shoot a few down then investigate.
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THIS. Not malicious my red round rosy...

It’s doing a grid search. They no doubt have cameras and probably infrared sensors. That’s malicious to those living there, it’s an invasion of privacy, it’s data collection, and it’s just plain creepy. It’s no doubt a private company testing drone technology to sell to the DEA or border patrol. Or some federal agency is already behind it and lying to us.

The other possibility is Google getting more detailed images for Google Earth. Also creepy, like the current images of your house and yard aren’t detailed enough. They’re planning to sell the collected data to advertisers. The drones will photograph your aged roof or tiny deck and you will start getting ads from roof and deck contractors.

Or it’s Amazon testing their drone delivery plans. Mapping the grids to form an address database so the next generation will drop packages by your front door.

Or it’s a terrorist organization testing a biological weapons delivery system.

With the possible exception of Amazon, and crop examination, none of these are good.
 
Following my thought on border control, one of our local politicians when we lived closer to the Mexican border talked about using “technology” instead of building a wall. But he was short on detail about exactly what that technology would be. One of the biggest problems with illegal entry is the long walk across desert areas where these people are attacked by coyotes (the human kind) and left to die, or in danger of just dying from dehydration before they reach a town or source of water. I can see where such a drone grid search could be a good alternative to a physical wall in certain areas, but you’d have to run them 24/7, I wonder how the expense would compare?

Disclaimer: I know “the wall” is a touchy political subject I DO NOT WANT TO GO THERE. I am only speculating on a possible reason for these drones and I’m thinking this is a very likely possibility.
 
Rushie said:
THIS. Not malicious my red round rosy...

It’s doing a grid search. They no doubt have cameras and probably infrared sensors. That’s malicious to those living there, it’s an invasion of privacy, it’s data collection, and it’s just plain creepy. It’s no doubt a private company testing drone technology to sell to the DEA or border patrol. Or some federal agency is already behind it and lying to us.

The other possibility is Google getting more detailed images for Google Earth. Also creepy, like the current images of your house and yard aren’t detailed enough. They’re planning to sell the collected data to advertisers. The drones will photograph your aged roof or tiny deck and you will start getting ads from roof and deck contractors.

Or it’s Amazon testing their drone delivery plans. Mapping the grids to form an address database so the next generation will drop packages by your front door.

Or it’s a terrorist organization testing a biological weapons delivery system.

With the possible exception of Amazon, and crop examination, none of these are good.
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As a anti-Amazon person, I consider that Amazon is doing it the most "creepy" possibility.
 
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The drones, estimated to have 6-foot wingspans, have been flying over Phillips and Yuma counties every night for about the past week, Elliott said Monday. Each night, at least 17 drones appear at about 7 o'clock and disappear at about 10 o'clock, staying 200 to 300 feet in the air.
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At least they are following the law. I suspect a harmless stunt by local enthusiasts. We need a short-range EMP rifle.
 
Weather balloons and crash test dummies...nothing to see here....move along.
 
Rushie said:
THIS. Not malicious my red round rosy...

It’s doing a grid search. They no doubt have cameras and probably infrared sensors. That’s malicious to those living there, it’s an invasion of privacy, it’s data collection, and it’s just plain creepy. It’s no doubt a private company testing drone technology to sell to the DEA or border patrol. Or some federal agency is already behind it and lying to us.

The other possibility is Google getting more detailed images for Google Earth. Also creepy, like the current images of your house and yard aren’t detailed enough. They’re planning to sell the collected data to advertisers. The drones will photograph your aged roof or tiny deck and you will start getting ads from roof and deck contractors.

Or it’s Amazon testing their drone delivery plans. Mapping the grids to form an address database so the next generation will drop packages by your front door.

Or it’s a terrorist organization testing a biological weapons delivery system.

With the possible exception of Amazon, and crop examination, none of these are good.
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Im not sure of the photo from the story itself is stock or actually a photo of the occurrences. But in the photo they aren’t exactly configured for mapping out areas. They aren’t flying in a formation, but a swarm, beside and over each other.

Also some of your guesses, don’t make sense to me doing at night. For one thing (again referring to the photo) they have lights which would burn up battery time, and for normal cameras no point in photographing. If they are infra red, or something else ok, but why pass up the chance then to photograph normally?

It’s a puzzler. They have attached attention, so if this was some secretive project they must have known they would be noticed...specially with all the lights.
 
They are flying at night, which means they need a night time waiver. Beyond VLOS? Only a few companies have that. And the FAA doesn’t know who’s flying them? Right.. um okay..


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LongRoadBob said:
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Is the tech built in for swarming? Proximity sensors so they don’t crash into each other, but somehow also controlled so they don’t keep redirecting each other.
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This would be my theory. Various researchers have been working on swarming algorithms for over a decade. Flat, empty farmland is the best option to test it at scale.

Patents for swarming already exist, even if there is not a decent implementation. If a decent implementation was developed by someone without Amazon/Google/Apple money, then they would want to keep it quiet until they can afford to fight the inevitable barrage of questionable patents.
 
At this site
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zo...rre-drone-mystery-unfolding-in-rural-colorado

they mention:


“The FAA does have rules for drones that weigh less than 55 pounds and requires such aircraft to be flown during daylight hours, within sight of the pilot, no higher than 400 feet above the ground, and not over people, among other rules. However, pilots can apply for and receive waivers from the FAA that exempts the pilots from many of those rules.

It’s also not clear whether the drones over Phillips and Yuma counties would be governed by those regulations. A drone the size of the ones spotted over the counties likely would weigh more than 55 pounds, Moss said. That means the drone operator would be flying commercially and would likely need to be a “manned aviator” — an actual pilot, Moss said.”

The blog also provides some sectionals purported to show the areas they have been sighted.
 
You don't suppose it has anything to do with this?

https://www.faa.gov/news/press_releases/news_story.cfm?newsId=24534

Think about it: the FAA proposes a new rule requiring all drones be identified. To drum up support, they get a company to fly a bunch of "mysterious drones" to get everyone all worked up and say how the new laws are required, "to protect the children", stop the creepy-spying-firestarting-drones, etc. One more freedom is then chipped away.

I joke. Sort of. Yeah, I joke.
 
Weekend Warrior said:
You don't suppose it has anything to do with this?

https://www.faa.gov/news/press_releases/news_story.cfm?newsId=24534

Think about it: the FAA proposes a new rule requiring all drones be identified. To drum up support, they get a company to fly a bunch of "mysterious drones" to get everyone all worked up and say how the new laws are required, "to protect the children", stop the creepy-spying-firestarting-drones, etc. One more freedom is then chipped away.

I joke. Sort of. Yeah, I joke.
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That was actually the first thing I thought of. Seriously.
 
It's probably a tech company testing something out.

I have never understood what it is about a drone that freaks people out so much.
 
flyingcheesehead said:
The fact that it can easily violate your privacy, and technically doesn't require a pilot's presence. It's stage one of Skynet meets 1984.
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What does pilot presence really have to do with it? A doofus in a Skyhawk covered in cameras and RF devices like cell stingers is just as big of a problem for our society.

Someone’s goal is always constant surveillance for everyone’s “Safety”. Not sure it’s worth the unintended consequences.

I still think NTSB will start “recommending” cockpit camera systems. They don’t get it anytime soon but it’s going to become their next “recommendation” they slap in every final report. If not soon, at least within the decade.
 
denverpilot said:
What does pilot presence really have to do with it? A doofus in a Skyhawk covered in cameras and RF devices like cell stingers is just as big of a problem for our society.
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To get creepily close, the guy in the Skyhawk has to risk his life.
 
If it’s unauthorized, I wonder why they’d have lights? If they were trying to be sneaky, they should not turn the lights on.

At night, if unlit, I doubt anyone would notice....
 
flyingcheesehead said:
To get creepily close, the guy in the Skyhawk has to risk his life.
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Nah. Zoom lens with gyro stabilization and GPS tracking right to an address, and the better model than the TV stations already use.

I guess he’d have to get low to look in a window. But for the most part, the Skyhawk can carry a lot more lens than the smaller drones can. :)
 
kyleb said:
Between always-on surveillance cameras, license plate readers, cell phone tracking, data mining through cookies, charge card transaction records, and a bunch of other stuff, I'm going with stage 27.
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Don’t forget if it lasts longer than ten seconds and it’s interesting or someone is dying, twenty live streams will be up from those standing around filming instead of helping. LOL.
 
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